T13 is very versatile, and you can use the system to play a lot of different games that have their own playstyles. These can be described by the following game Axes:
- Narrative: The Narrative axis controls how Story-like the game play may be. This can range from, not at all, to completely.
- Not at all: There are no Yarn-Teller Player Characters, there are few to none Hero Player Characters, and most Characters are Grunts or Lite. Plots tend to be Geo-Plots (usually Dungeon or Hex Crawls), created solely by the Referee. Play tends to be very Simulationist, and Tactical.
- Weak Narratives: Player Characters may be of any type, but tend to be Heroes. Players are generally involved in Referee Plots. Plots are usually one huge sweeping Epic, or Cycle, that carries the Players along, or Monster of the Week style Stories that provide episodes. Some Players may guide the Plot by discussing goals with the Referee.
- Strong Narratives: Players may be any type, but are generally Yarn-Tellers. Plots come in all shapes and sizes, often with Stories and Arcs being handled by different Players. Players are encouraged to run Character specific Arcs for one another. Referee usually governs the strongest Plots themselves, but does not have to.
- Completely Narrative: All Players are Yarn-Tellers, each acting as the Referee to their own Plots, for the other Players.
- Simulationist: The Simulationist axis controls how closely you wish to model physical laws and reality. Pure Simulation is great for some games, but some Genres are not well suited to simulation. High Fantasy can be particularly badly handled by pure simulation.
- Pure Simulation: Value Tests are the only Tests needed. Ordeals are not used. Note many Nimbeds are effectively useless in a Simulation, so you may wish to use more Umbrals instead.
- Loose Simulation: All Tests may be performed at times. Ordeals may be dealt with through Card Play, or Dice Rolls as preferred. Dice Rolls tend to be additive rather than Pools. Difficulties are usually based on adding all Difficulties from the Sway Table, rather than Value comparisons or Dice Pools.
- Winging It: Tests are usually performed with Dice Pool-rolls, Ordeals use cards, and the Yarn-Teller decides which are which. Pool Difficulties are usually calculated from the Highest Difficulty on the Sway Table of the action being attempted.
- Tactical: The Tactical axis controls how strategic, or tactical, the gameplay is.
- Battle-Minis: Highly Tactical play, where Characters are represented on a Battle-board map, that represents the Location (and may be gridded). All ranges, movement, and so on, during Ordeals must be dealt with in terms of the Grid/Scale.
- Cinematic: Semi-Tactical play, usually using a map of the Location, but movement and range is based on simple Bands usually Melee 0-2 m, Close 2-5 m, Medium 5-100 m, Long 100-500 m and Extreme 500+ m.
- Arena of the Mind: Mostly non-tactical play. There is no need for a map, but the Yarn-Teller does their best to remember Character locations and keep ranges consistent. Tactical play is often stilted.
- Theatre of the Mind: Non-tactical play, the map is largely unimportant, objects and Characters may teleport about as required by the narration. Strategy can still apply in terms of cards played and so on, but there is no Tactics as such.
- Setting Flexibility: The Setting Flexibility axis controls how much creative control the Players have over the setting.
- Fixed: The players have little creative control over the setting. The setting is defined by the Referee, or some other Author, but is not modified in play except perhaps for ownerships of Descendants or minor Character deaths. Fixed Settings usually have strict timelines that cannot be disrupted. Major Characters mentioned in the timeline cannot have permanent changes that do not appear in the time-line already. Such Plot Armour usually protects important characters from any Wounds worse than Maiming automatically.
- Restricted: Referee and Yarn-Tellers may adjust and adapt the setting, but only to accepted limits (usually set by the Referee or Author). Restricted settings for example may be altered in major ways by Character actions, a Character can kill the Emperor and affect history, or discover a new technology or magic and alter the world, but such changes such as who the next Emperor will be are decided by the Referee (or Author). This is the typical setting flexibility of most TTRPGs.
- World-building: Referee and Players may create new aspects of the setting, as long as they do not contradict some already established rule, or fact of the setting. For example, if a Player has stated, “No Wizards” or “No Guilds”, you can’t later add a Wizard’s Guild in a town (a Conjurer’s Club would be fine). Because of this, it is often advisable to not create entirely exclusionary rules, perhaps instead of No Wizards, the rule might be “Wizards are illegal in the kingdom”, allowing another country to have legal Wizards. Specific Players are usually given “control” over their own aspects, such as allowing the Rogue Character to define how Thieves guilds work, who runs the local branch, etc. This is the level of Creative flexibility offered in most Story Games.
- Reflexive Continuity: Much like World-Building, only any Rule or aspect of the setting that is created has a Yarn-Cost. Any Yarn-Teller can pay Yarn to break that Rule for a one-off story, or even change it from now on. This allows Worlds to surprise, move on, and adapt during gameplay in ways that World-Building games cannot. It should be noted that none Yarn-Teller Characters can create Rules (and with Million-to-one-shots even change accepted Rules) just as in a World-Building game. This level of Flexibility is the suggested level of
- Fluid: Referee and Yarn-Tellers may change any aspect of the world during narration, including creating new Retcons, continents, etc. Fluid games can be fun, but feel more dream-like and less real.
These axes all combine together to describe the exact nature of the game, but beyond that there is the Setting (including the Genre) that will further flavour the exact nature of the game or narrative created.